YAMAHA BECOMES "OFFICIAL PIANO" FOR BAKERSFIELD JAZZ FEST

Bakersfield Jazz Fest

BUENA PARK, CA (August 23, 2002)—When people drove by California State University at Bakersfield this past May where the 16th annual Bakersfield "Rite of Spring" Jazz Festival was taking place, they couldn't miss the 30-foot Yamaha banner majestically spanning the entrance.

And if you happened to attend this wonderful two-day celebration at the university's amphitheater, which featured such jazz and jump swing greats as Doug Davis, Jeff Lorber, GRAMMY® Award-winning saxophonist Ernie Watts, The Chesterfield King and the Sultans of Swing, and Dr. D's Debris, you would also have seen a magnificent Yamaha C7 conservatory grand piano on the stage, basking in the glow of the performers who made beautiful music on it.

"We couldn't have done any of this without the generosity of California Keyboards," says Doug Davis, director of the Cal State Bakersfield Jazz Program, professor of music and organizer of the festival. "Thanks to Ed Tomlinson, who owns California Keyboards, and who served as the festival's technician, Yamaha became the official piano for this special event. We were thrilled. You can always count on a Yamaha to give you what you're asking," says Davis, who also mentioned that Tomlinson happened to be a former student of his.

Tomlinson discovered that the festival had been renting a smaller piano since its inception. "It was a piano that was too small for that large a venue," says Tomlinson. So he decided that he not only wanted to give "a better quality-sounding piano" to the festival, but he also wanted Yamaha to get the attention it so richly deserved.

"The 30-foot banner helped," says Tomlinson, laughing. "The piano was used for the entire weekend festival and only had to be tuned the first day and touched up only three times after that. What made a huge difference this year is that we installed an Edwards String Cover on the instrument to help ensure stability. The piano was said to be the most stable piano ever used at the festival."